Wire recorder indicator



Jan. 25, 1949.

Filed March 21, 1946 M. O. PETROFF ETAL WIRE RECORDER INDICATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet l .g f i a I a: 2'9 a2 26 W Z 26 fnvvntoras HIV [ham F'traab.

M. O. PETROFF ETAL WIRE RECORDER INDICATOR Jan. 25, 1949.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 21, 1946 [721 672 tors: MG/"ZZ/Z O Petra Patented Jan. 25, 1949 Strauli," Chicago,- 111;; assignors to Charles P Peirce, Evan'ston, Ill.

Application March 21', 1946, Seria l Nit- 656, 141

6 Claims.

Qurpresen t invention relates to an improvement in'a wire recorder'indicator, and more partic'ularlyto adevice for indicating the amount of wire on the supply andtake-u pspools of a wire recorder, and for effecting stopping of the wire recorder drive m'echanism when the wire been substantially withdrawn from one spool and wound upon the oth'er' spool, or when Wireof a predetermined amount has passed from one spool to-"the-otherfspool. I lo predetermined amount of wire from the supply In the us'efof [wire recorders it is desirable to spool to the talic-up spool to effect stopping of providean 'indicating device which, for example, I the driving mechanism of the recorder. during the ftriavel*of"wire from-the supplyspool In the preferred embodiment of 'our invention wane take-up- 'spool -afiords avisual indication herein disclosed we propose .to provide a device of the amount of Wire on each of the spoolsso 13 of the vabovecharacter. comprising'an elongated thatat all times the-operator will know how casing'positionable conveniently.at the front of muchiwire remains 'on-the sIiPDIV spool when thefl'reco rder and which embodies a feed screw making'iaiirecording; Further it isdesirable in mounted for rotation within the casing and a wire recorder to pr vi e means r "setting the I adapted to-be rotated by the driving means of the machine-for example, to record a predetermined 21? recorder,

amount of wire. .Also; sucha device preferably. should provide forthe automatic. stopping: of the driving mechanismpf the recorder whenthe wire is substantially completely wound upon eitherof the spools, or as in the instance previously noted,

when-a'predetermined amount of wire has passed,

from one spool to the 'Oth1 spool to efiect stoppingiQf the driving means to. discontinue movement of thewire fromthe one spool to the other 5 Itis an'pbject of my invention to provide an indicating device-of thecharacter, above referred tolwhich is of simpleand sturdy construction.

Agfurther object is to provide an indicating. device having indicating'means forindicating the" relative amount of 'wire on each'of the supply and take-upspools of a wire recorder.

A furtli'enobjeCt'is to provide an indicating device'ofjthe character notedcomprising a first indicating means jfor indicating the relative amount of wire on eachof the supply and takeeup spools," and operativeto effect stopping. ofthe' driving mechanism-of the recorder when the wire f is substantially wound completelyon either the supply or take-up. spools.

Aiurther objectis to provide an indicating deviceof the character noted comprising a second indicating means -manually positionable f or of fecting travel of .a predetermined amount of wire from onespooLto-"the' other spoolof a wire recorder, and operablenupon travel of said pre-. determined amount ofwire to effect stopping of the-driving mechanism of the recorder.

A ;further robj ect is to provide an indicating device comprising a first indicating means 'for" indicating .the rl'ativeamo'unt of wire on each of the supply and take-up spools, and operative to effect stopping of the driving mechanism of h the recorder when the Wire is'substantially'wound completely on either the supply or take-up spools, and. a .sec'ond indicating. means manually positionable for "effecting travel of the predetermined amount of wire from'one spool to the other spool of the recorder, and operable 'upon'travel of such A preferred ieatureof construction of our inventionres es mule provision of a pair of indicatingjmeans each of which comprises a halfnut member normally held in threaded engagementwiththe feed screw by spring means formbyvirtue' of the half-nut'members are adapted to be moved lengthwise relative of the casing and by'their' relative position with respect to the easingiindicatin'g either (1) the relative-amount of wire "oneachof the take-up and supply spools or (2)"th eamount-oi recording time remaining of a predetermined time for which the device has beenset I Afufther preferred feature resides in utilizing the scale supporting -member together with the spring means for each of the indicating means for normally maintaining the half-nut members of the Iatter'in'threading engagement with the fee'dfiscrew to efiect 1 travel of the indicating means along the ieedscrew and relative length- 'Wise of the casing; and inwhich the indicating means are movable manually to effect the disengagementoi the halt-nut members'against the forceof the spring .means to adjust the positions I thereof; 'alongthe feed screw.

A still further preferred feature resides in the provision of switch means adjacent each end of the feed screw which are adapted to be actuated by the indicating means when disposed at the ends of the feed screw.

The above and other objects and features of our invention will appear from the detail description.

Now, in order to acquaint those skilled in the art with the manner of constructing and utilizing indicating devices in accordance with our invention, we shall describe in connection with the accompanying drawings a preferred embodiment of our invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the upper portion-of a wire recorder in which the indicating mechanism of our invention has been embodied;

Figure 2 is a horizontal view taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Figure 1 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows, and illustrating in plan a driving mechanism of a wire recorder and the connection thereof with the indicating mechanism of our invention;

Figure 3 is a front view of the indicating mechanism of our invention;

Figure 4 is a view taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Figure 3 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows, and showing in plan the indicating device of our invention with the Vertical rear wall of the elongated housing for the mechanism being shown in section;

Figure 5 is an end view of the right hand end of the device of Figure 3, taken substantially on the line 55 of the latter figure looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

Figure 6 is a detail vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line 6-6 of Figure 3 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows; and

Figure 7 is a view of a slide-rule type of dial or scale member calibrated in terms of wire length adapted to be supported in the scale supporting member of the indicating mechanism of our invention, and providing for a visual indication of the relative positions of a pair of indicating means forming part of the device of our invention.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 2, I have shown a known form of wire recorder |0 comprising a vertically extending front panel or wall l2, a pair 4 Suitable guide bearing sleeve members 32-32 are carried by each of the panels 24 and 25, with each pair of guide sleeves 32 for each of the guide rods 36 providing for guiding the horizontal movement of the latter. The reciprocating plate member 3| carries a nut 34 substantially centrally thereof which is adapted to have threading engagement with the double screw thread 35 formed in a shaft 36 the opposite ends of which are suitably journaled in panels 24 and so that upon rotation of the shaft 36 the reciprocating mechanism comprising the reciprocating plate 3|, the pair of guide shafts 3636, and the panel 29 efiect reciprocation of the magnetic head 28 axially of the spools 23 and 26 to guide the wire W from the supply spool 22 to the take-up spool 2| or vice versa. The shaft 36 adjacent its forward end has a bevel gear 39 suitably secured thereto which has meshing engagement with a bevel gear 4| fixed to a shaft 42 and which shaft 42 adjacent its opposite end is supported in a substanof end walls I3|3 and a rear wall M with these several walls forming a casing which encloses the driving mechanism |5 for the recorder and the indicating device [6 of our invention.

The driving mechanism 5 of the wire recorder and the assembly thereof in the housing for the apparatus forms no part of our present invention and may vary widely in form. The wire recorder l6 chosen for the purposes of describing one embodiment of our present invention comprises a supply reel means 26 and a take-up reel means 2|. The supply reel means 20 comprises a supply spool 22 adapted to be removably associated with and fixed for rotation on a shaft 23 mounted in the pair of spaced vertical panels 24 and 25 for rotation about a fixed horizontal axis. The take-up reel means 2| also comprises a take-up spool 26 which is adapted to be removably mounted upon and rotatable with a shaft 21, which shaft 21 is also suitably supported for rotation about a fixed horizontal axis in the panel members 24 and 25. A magnetic recording head 28 of known construction is carried by a plate or panel 29 the opposite side edges of which have one end of each of a pair of guide rods 3|l-30 suitably secured thereto with the guide rods adjacent their opposite ends being secured to a reciprocating plate member 3|.

tially U-shaped bracket 43 suitably fixed upon the rear surface of the wall or panel member 24. The shaft 42 at its other end has a worm gear 44 secured thereto which is adapted to have meshing engagement with a worm member fixed to the shaft 2'! of the take-up reel means 23. Thus upon rotation of the take-up reel means 2| the worm gear 44 is caused to be rotated effecting rotation of shaft 42 and the bevel gear 4| thereof, which by its meshing engagement with the bevel ear 39 effects rotation of the shaft 36 for moving the magnetic head 28 and guide the wire W in its travel from the supply reel to the take-up reel or vice versa.

The drive means I5 is of a character for effecting the selective rotation of either the supply reel means 2|) or the take-up reel means 25 and comprises an electric motor 50, the armature shaft of which carries a pulley about which and a pulley 52 a drive belt 5| is trained. The pulley 52 is fixed to a jack shaft 53 having its opposite ends suitably journaled for rotation in the panel members 24 and 25.

The jack shaft 53 has a drive wheel 54 secured thereto comprising a pair of cylindrical friction drive surfaces 55 and 56 of different diameters with the surface 55 being adapted to have drivin engagement with a friction wheel 58 which in turn is adapted to have driving engagement with a fixed driven wheel 59, and which in turn has driving engagement with a friction wheel 60 fixed to the rearward end of the shaft 21. The cylindrical friction drive surface 56 of the wheel 54 is adapted to have driving engagement with a friction driven wheel 6| which in turn has friction driving engagement with a wheel 62 fixed to the rearward end of theshaft 23. The driven wheels 58 and 6| are movably mounted and are adapted to have selective driving engagement with the cylindrical drive surfaces 55 and 56, respectively of the drive wheel means 54. When the driven wheel 58 is positioned to engage the cylindrical drive surface 55 of the drive wheel 54 and the driven wheel 59, the driven wheel 6| is adapted to be positioned out of engagement with the cylindrical surface 56 of the drive wheel 54 so that when the wheels are engaged as last described the shaft 2'! of the take-up wheel means 2| is adapted to be rotated effectin travel of the wire W from the supply spool 22 to the take-up spool 2|. This drive through the worm wheel 44 meshing with the worm fixed on shaft ZT-effects the reciprocation of the recording :head

28*a's previously described.-

Whom-the driven wheel 6| is caused {to be errgaged' 'with the cylindrical drive; surface 56 of the" drivevwheel 54, and-the-wheel- 62 =fixedto shaft 23, the supply wheel means' 20 'is adapted to be-rotated'to--eifect=travel of the'wire W from th'e-take-up spool back to "the supply spool with thetake up' wheel means 21 being caused-to be rotated throughthe "wire-W and thereby effect actuation" of the 1 reciprocating mechanism for guiding the wire from-the take upspool tothe supply spool-J The above form" of drive mechanism is dis-' closedin" greater 'detail in the copending ap p1ication of-"William- G. Knapp; Serial No; 631,392, filed November 28, 1945, to-W-hich-ref-'- erence-maybe K had-for a *more'detail description ofsuclr-drivmmechanism; but which of-itself forms -no' partofour prcsentinvention. It'will be under-stood that the above drive mechanism is "only of 'one ---form--withwhichourpresent invention--may housed; and that'many forms of drive -'mechanisms for selectively imparting drive either toa 'takemp reel means or a supply reel means are known-and wit-lrwhichour present invention may-be readily embodied.

Referring -now' more --particularl-y"to Figures 3 through 6, it" will be seen that the indicating channel shaped member BB-and'secure'd-by a pair'- of "screws lll-to-the integral tongue or ear members I and 12 of 'th'e'bracket-s' 6! and'B8 respectively. A feed screw 15 extends lengthwisewithinthe ---casing,-' andis-mounted for rotation substantially centrally thereof by the mounting of' its'ends- -in-the bracket -members 61 and 68. A worm wheel-l3 is suitablyconnected to one end of-the feed screw'il with the worm wheel having' meshingengagement with a worm 14 fixed-to-the end"of--"a'-shaft-'l5 which has connection through"afiexiblecable 16," as shown in Figure 2; W-ith'the outer end of the shaft 42 and-which is adapted tube-rotated in *opposite directions-upon rotation'of either of the takeup or supply reelmeans. adapted to be-mounted for rotation-at oneend in the ear or flange 1T formed integrally of the bracket 58 "and-which bracket is suitablysecured to :the irear-"wallof the channel member -66 by screws 18 48. The bracket -61 is similarly con-' nected by a pairof screws -'8880"to "the back wallof the channel member 66. Apair of indicating, means 82 and 83 each comprising a half. nut, member 85 "adapted to have threading engagement with the feed screw with the half nut members185 -85 of the indicating means The shaft 15 is 82and 83"being disposed respectively above and below the horizontal longitudinal plane in which the axis of the feed screw 15 lies.

The half nut members .85 each'have secured thereto an indicator member '81 by means of b1ock'members"88' and between which block members of each of the indicating means 82 and 83;;leaf springs 89-are arranged between the 6. together as integral-'junits' by; a pair of screws 90-90 havingthreaded engagement in the half nut members 85; It'will be observedthat the indicator members 81 each comprise aninward lydisposed" guldeflange portion 92 I adapted to have sliding engagementwith a channelshaped guide member "93 secured to the rear wall of "the channel shaped framemember 66 to extend lengthwise-of thecasing: The scale supporting memberliil} as shown; has itsupp'er and lower edges rounded and extended toward eachother and the indicator members 81 are each provided with 'a-rounded portion- 95 fitting-over the rounded edges of the scale-supporting member. The'inldicator members=8l each have a handle lug 91*- projectingforwardly; of the scale supporting member-69; and an integral pointer portion orelement l 98 providihg visual 1 indication Ofthe positions of the=indicatingmeans 82 and 83 i with grespect to a slide 'rule typeof dial-or-scale lllll calibrated in terms' of'wire length; shown in' portedwithin' the scale supporting member 69 between the rounded lengthwis'e upper and lower ,edges thereof;- A pair of switches l0! 7 and 102 aresuitably suppor-ted' adjacent the opposite ends of the feed screw 12 andrearwardlyin the casing. Thelswitchesi'arereachlprovided with an operatingebutton 03 .vadaptedflto be engaged by either offithe indicating: means :82 or 83 when disposed .in: a position': on the sfeed lscrew at the ends th'ereof rfor actuating the switches IM or I02 Thespringzmeans 8fli'ofreach of the indicatin means.:82 and '83 1-provide"fo'r biasingof lthe'half nut fmembers 85 time engagement with the feed screwal2gwit-h the indicator-members 81 in engagem'ent; with thee-rounded upper and lower edges-of the scale: supporting member 69 'to effect a driving engagement between each of theindicating .meansrandxlthezfeedscrew 12. Upon grasping z-of therhandleapo'rtions 9'l of;either of the indicatingrmeans82 and 83, it will be observed; that 2 the-springs '89: may be'i'fiattened against the normal biasing force thereof, and the half inut emembersy 85' raisedtoia position clearingethexthreadsuofithefeed 'scre'w'12 so that the indicating members 82 and-'83 Fmay'be moved or shifted lengthwiserzof ethe casingfor effecting 'positioning iofi thexsame in 1 any desired relation with respect to thefeed screw-"12.

Assume now that the supply "spool 22 has substantially all :thewire woundthereon and it is mounted onthelshaft 23 and-'lead'wire is threaded through the magneticheadn and connected to the-take-up spool 26?- With'this condition the indicatingzmeans. 83is positioned to the left hand end of the'ca'sing as-viewed in the several figures so that upon enga'gement'of the-friction wheel 58 with the cylindricaldriveportion55 of the drive Wh8e1 54t0 1013911613118 shaft 21 the travel of the pointenrelement :98'iofr the" indicating means 83 will indicate to the operatorof the recording device the amount of wire on'the supply and takeaup spools'. As previouslyxnoted rotation of the take-up I reel means '2 I? will through the flexible cable 16 anditsiconnection with-the shaft 15 efiect rotatio'n'fiof thefeed screwa'l2kto effect movement" of the indicating means 83 to the right as viewed in the drawings. The scale I0!) is suitably calibratedin any'zdesired manner for'in'di'cating the number of feet of wire orthelikeremaining on the supply spool. When theindicating:means 83 reaches=-its right -hand-:lposition it engages the actuating ='button-' -I 03 0f thesWltch: .l 02 :actuating this switch to its open position and opening-the circuit of the electric motor 5|] to effect stopping of the'driving mechanism l5. This actuation of the switch I03 by indicating means 83 is preferably calculated so that the interruption of the driving mechanism of the recorder is efiected when the wire W has been substantially completely wound upon the take-up spool 26.

Assuming again that the driving mechanism i5 has been actuated to drive the take-up reel means 2|, it will be observed that the indicating means 82 may be positioned manually to provide for the recording of a predetermined amount of wire after which the indicating means 82 will engage the button !63 of the switch I02 to deenergize the electric motor 50 to stop the driving mechanism I5. When the driving mechanism H i5 is actuated to drive the take-up reel 26, the indicating means 82 is caused to be moved to the right by the feed screw as viewed in the several figures so that by adjusting the pointer element 98 of the indicating means 92 with respect to the scale Hi supported by the scale supporting member a recording period based on a predetermined length of wire may be provided for and with the driving mechanism being stopped upon expiration of such time.

Upon actuation of the driving mechanism l as by engaging the driven wheel 6| with the drive surface 56 of the drive wheel 54 to rotate the supply spool 22 to draw the wire W to the left as viewed in Figure 2 from the take-up reel to the supply reel, the indicating means 83 is caused to be moved to the left by the feed screw 12, and whenit reaches its left hand position it engages the button Hi3 of the switch ID! to interrupt the circuit for the electric motor, and stop the drive mechanism and in which position substantially all of the wire will be wound-upon the supply reel 22.

It will thus be observed that in the indicating mechanism of our invention'the indicating means 83 provides for the visual determination of the amount of wire on either of the supply and takeup reels, and provides for the stopping of the drive mechanism when the wire is substantially completely wound upon either of the spools. Further that the indicating means 82 enables setting of the machine to provide a recording of a predetermined amount of wire with this latter means being resettable manually in order to vary the amount of recording wire desired.

As shown in Figure 1 the indicating means of our invention is mounted rearwardly and at the upper end of'the front wall of the wire recorder, with this wall being provided with a lengthwise extending slot through which the handle elements 9'! project and through which the slide rule dial or scale [00 is readily visible. This is a convenient position for the indicating means but it will be understood that it may be associated with the wire recorder in other manner and arrangements as desired.

While we have shown what we consider to be the preferred embodiment of our invention it will be understood that various modifications and rearrangements may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention.

We claim:

1. In an indicating device for a wire recorder or the like having driving means for causing wire to travel from'a supply spool to a take-up spool the combination of casingmeans comprising a substantially channel shaped member having end wall elements, and a scale supporting member extending lengthwise of said channel member across the open face thereof, a feed screw adapted to be rotated by said driving means extending lengthwise within said casing and mounted for rotation in said end wall elements, and a pair of indication means each comprising an indicator element adjacent the outer face of said scale supporting member, and a half nut member screw by rotation of the latter to move the indicator elements thereof lengthwise relative to said scale supporting member.

2. In an indicating device for a wire recorder or the like the combination of easing means including'a scale supporting member forming a front wall therefor and being adapted to support a rule type scale element calibrated in terms of wire length, feed screw means extending lengthwise of said casing and mounted for rotation therein, and a pair of indicating means each having a half-nut member disposed on either side of a horizontal longitudinal plane passing through the axis of said feed screw means, and spring means between each of said indicating means and said casing means for maintaining said indicating means in sliding engagement with said scale supporting member and each of said half-nut members in threaded engagement with said feed screw means, whereby each of said indicating means is adapted to be moved axially of said feed screw means upon rotation of the latter and relative to said rule type scale element adapted to be supported by said scale supporting member.

3. In an indicating device for a wire recorder or the like the combination of casing means including a scale supporting member forming a front wall thereof and being adapted to support a rule type scale element calibrated in terms of wire length, feed screw means extending lengthwise of said casing and mounted for rotation therein, and a pair of indicating means each having a half-nut member disposed on either side of a horizontal longitudinal plane passing through the axis of said feed screw means, spring means in sliding engagement with said scale supporting member and each of said half-nut member in threaded engagement with said feed screw means, and an indicator member for each of said pair of indicating means having a pointer element providing a visual indication of the positions of said indicating means relative to the rule type scale element adapted to be supported by said scale supporting member, each of said indicating means being adapted to be moved lengthwise relative to said scale supporting member and axially along said feed screw by rotation of the latter.

4. In an indicating device for a wire recorder or the like the combination of casing means including a scale supporting member forming a front wall therefor and being adapted to support a rule type scale element calibrated in terms of wire length, feed screw means extending lengthwise of said casing and mounted for rotation therein, and a pair of indicating means each having a half-nut member disposed on either side of a horizontal longitudinal plane passing through the axis of said feed screw means, spring means between each of said indicating means and said casing means for maintaining said indicating means in sliding engagement with said scale supporting member and each of said half-nut members in threaded engagement with said feed screw means, whereby each of said indicating means is adapted to be moved axially of said feed screw means upon rotation of the latter and relative to said rule type scale element adapted to be supported by said scale supporting member, and each of said indicator members having a handle element for disengaging the half-nut members from threading engagement with said feed screw against the force of the spring means associated therewith whereby either of said indicating means is adapted to be shifted manually lengthwise of said casing means.

5. In an indicating device for a wire recorder or the like having driving means including an electric motor for causing wire to travel from a supply spool to a take-up spool or vice versa, the combination of an elongated casing means, feed. screw means extending lengthwise within said casing and adapted to be rotated by said driving a means, a pair of indicating means each comprising a half-nut member having threading engagement with said feed screw means movable lengthwise of said casing and axially of said feed screw means by rotation of the latter, said half-nut members of said pair of indicating means providing for movement of the same past each other, and a pair of switch means one disposed adjacent each end of said feed screw means and adapted to be actuated to open position and thereby open a circuit for the electric motor of said driving means to stop the travel of wire from one spool to the other spool.

6. In an indicating device for a wire recorder or the like having driving means for causing wire 1 to travel from a supply spool to a take-up spool, or vice versa, the combination of an elongated casing, a feed screw extending lengthwise within said casing and adapted to be rotated by driving means in opposite directions depending upon the direction of travel of wire from one spool to the other spool, a first indicating means and a second indicating means each including spring means for normally biasing the same into engagement with said feed screw for movement lengthwise of said casing and axially of said feed screw by rotation of the latter, said first and second indicating means being adapted to be manually disengaged from said feed screw against the force of said spring means for movement lengthwise of said casing to selectively position the same relative to and for engagement with said feed screw, a pair of normally closed switches one disposed adjacent each end of said feed screw for effecting operation of said driving means, said switch means having actuator members engageable by said indicating means when disposed at the ends of said feed screw for opening said switch means to render said driving means inoperative, whereby said first indicating means is adapted to be positioned at either end of said feed screw to actuate either of said switch means after the wire has been substantially completely withdrawn from one spool and wound upon the other, and said second indicating means is adapted to be positioned relative to said feed screw to actuate selectively said switch means adjacent the end of said feed screw toward which it is adapted to be moved in the travel of the wire from said supply spool to said take-up spool and upon the transfer of a predetermined amount of wire from said supply spool to said take-up spool.

MERLIN O. PETROFF, WILLIALI F. STRAUB.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Mansfield et al Feb. 7, 1939 

